London, April 05: A UK nuke-armed Trident submarine has been forced to leave a training exercise mission and return to its home port after a mechanical failure caused it to lose power.
HMS Vengeance, which carries up to 48 nuclear warheads on up to 16 Trident missiles, is returning to Faslane naval base in Scotland, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.
HMS Vengeance is one of the Royal Navy’s four nuclear-powered Vanguard-class submarines which comprise Britain’s nuclear “deterrent”, according to the MoD.
“Vengeance has suffered a mechanical defect resulting in a reduction in propulsion. She is returning to Faslane under her own power. She is still at sea”, said an MoD spokesman.
The incident happened on Thursday night while the vessel was on a training exercise in the north Atlantic, he said.
Other sources said that HMS Vengeance has had to cut short a training exercise in the North Atlantic because its propeller became blocked by debris during bad weather late on Thursday evening.
The Royal Navy accepted that the incident was unfortunate but stressed that there had been no injuries and that there were no implications for nuclear safety. It was a “mechanical issue”, a naval spokesman said.
“HMS Vengeance was on a training exercise in the northern exercise area when she suffered a reduction in her propulsion.
There was a blockage in the propulsor and it was found to have been fouled by an object as a result of which there was a reduction in propulsion. It slowed her down”, he said.
HMS Vengeance, like the other three Vanguard-class nuclear subs, is usually driven by a propulsor, a large encased propeller at the rear. It also has two auxiliary retractable propulsion motors, sometimes known as “egg whisks”. Experts say the boat will probably now be powered by the auxiliary motors to avoid further damage to the propulsor.
The boat carries up to 48 nuclear warheads on up to 16 Trident missiles, which weigh 60 tons each and have a range of 4,000 nautical miles.
The UK government has been considering proposals to cut the number of its nuclear-armed submarines and its Trident missile as part of a plan to enforce a spending review program during tough economic situation.
——–Agencies